Synthesis and Characterization of Carbon Aerogels Electrodes Modified by Ag2S Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this work, electrodes based on carbon aerogels (CA) modified by Ag2S nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by sputtering and solid-vapor reactions. Nanoparticles were identified as silver sulfide (acanthite phase) and their size was controlled by the sputtering time (5s deposition- 8.65 nm ± 1.74 nm, 7s deposition- 12.78 nm ± 8.53 nm and 45 s deposition- 21.35 nm ± 10.07 nm). It was found that the electrodes properties vary according to the Ag2S NPs sizes. All modified electrodes exhibited an improved REDOX reactions reversibility, enhanced optical properties (0.97 to 1.22 eV optical bandgap) and electrical conductivity (8.60-9.40 S/cm) when compared with pure carbon aerogel electrodes (1.4 eV, 8.20 S/cm).